This has been my life for the past week. Last Monday I left my house at 9 am to start what is normally a 6 hour drive to visit family. I rolled into town at 10:15 pm. 128 miles from home, my car broke down. Along a major highway. The saving grace was that I knew it was dying and managed to get off the road far enough that I wasn’t in any danger – had I been in the passing lane, I would not be typing this now. 45 minutes later, the tow truck appeared and – silver lining – I got to ride in a big truck and see scenery that I don’t normally see because I’m driving. An hour after arriving there, I learned that the fuel pump had died. We replaced this fuel pump 9 months ago.

Livid does not describe how I feel about this equipment fail. It should NOT have happened.

Renting a car so I could continue on was another episode of “are you kidding?” First it was arranged and then it wasn’t, no car till Wednesday. Umm, no. The wonderful Mercedes people drove me 30 miles south to get a car – silver lining – it was a really nice car.

By the time I got back on the road, it was nearly 7 pm. I had brought a sub along for lunch and eaten half of it, so I was hungry but didn’t want to eat tuna in a rental car. I also didn’t want to stop but when I had to use the rest room, I gobbled down some of my sub and some chips. It soon got dark, and I don’t see that well in the dark these days so that slowed me down some.

I wanted three things when I got here – food, beer and a shower, in no particular order. I stopped at McDonald’s – something I never do – then went to the grocery store for beer, checked into the motel, got a shower and finally let it all go. I think I cried for 10 minutes straight.

My Bear had said he would come get me. I didn’t want him to drive 128 miles only to have to wait for a tow and be stuck and all that jazz. We were in continuous communication – he was almost as exhausted as me by the end of this ordeal.

The car was done on Wednesday, but too late in the day for me to drive down to pick it up. We went Thursday. I am a bit nervous of it now although they reassure me that everything was replaced that needed it and I’m perfectly safe.

This hasn’t been one of my best visits. Strains in relationships are showing – too much togetherness is reminding me of why I moved away so many years ago. My plan is to stay 10 days because I have a great deal of work to do for school and with Maverick needing constant attention – my attention to him is excessive, I’ve been told since being here – I get little done. I thought I could spend some time actually working while here.

Last night the shower thingie that makes the water go from the faucet up to the shower head fell off in my hand. This morning I called the manager who was not able to fix it and thought I could just take baths for the next couple of days. No.

I moved to another room. The internet was okay in the first room. It sucked donkey balls in this room. After a disastrous lunch with two sisters – apparently I remember nothing of my childhood – I came back to the motel to do some work and could not stay online for anything.

My frustration levels hit a peak and I went to the manager and demanded to be moved again. He said, oh, I just need to reset the modem. Facepalm. DO IT!

I’ve got two more days here. Then home to my Bear and my Maverick. I’m so ready. I’m so ready I won’t even mind MASH, Well. Yeah, I will. 🙂